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We’ve talked about why we travel. We’ve talked about how to plan your trip. We’ve talked about road trip tips. This time, let’s talk about flying with kids! Before we first flew with Trooper, this was a HUGE fear of mine. I’m not the calmest flier in the world so the thought of adding a screaming baby on top of that anxiety was not my favorite thought.

What I’ve learned is that yes, it can be rough sometimes, but there are a few things you can do to make it the best experience it can be.

One caveat for you: We’ve been flying with Trooper since he was 6 months old. He has flown A LOT and so we haven’t had to fly with an older kid for their first time. I can image that many of these suggestions would help with them as well, but it wouldn’t be first hand knowledge.

Here are 15 tips and tricks for flying with your family!

Tip #1: Bring their birth certificate

If your child is under 2 years old, they can fly free on your lap. However, some gate agents will want proof of their age. We never had this happen to us, but we have known people who it has happened to. So, here’s a TRAVEL TIP - get a second birth certificate for flying. You have to pay for it, but it wasn’t that much money and it made me feel better to not have the only copy with me. You could also try taking a picture of the birth certificate and using that, but I don’t know if they would accept that. 

Once kids are older than 2, we’ve found that the TSA agent just askes them their name and that’s good enough. Unless of course, you’re flying international and then they’ll need a passport.

Tip #2: Get a car seat and/or stroller bag

Gate checking your stroller is a must in my book, but I loved being able to put it in a bag so that it wouldn’t come out so dirty. You should have seen our stroller bag! By the time we retired it, there were many duct taped rips and lots of gross stuff! When we traveled with our car seat, which wasn’t often because we would rent a car seat from the car rental companies, we would check that with our other bags - it doesn’t count as one of your allotted bags. But you can also gate check car seats - in a bag.

Here is our favorite stroller bag.

Here is our favorite car seat bag.

Tip #3: Gate check your stroller or car seat (in a bag)

What is gate checking? You can bring a stroller or car seat with you in the airport. Keep in mind that you will need to send your stroller and car seat through the x-ray machines at TSA AND you won’t be able to wear your baby through the metal detectors. But you can’t take a stroller onto the plane so they allow you to leave them at the end of the jet way, right before you get on the plane. They will then put them under the plane and when you reach your destination, you can pick it up at the same place. It is very convenient when traveling with littles!

One word on car seats on planes. I’ve thought a lot about this since Trooper was little, and I think I might have preferred to buy him a seat and use his car seat during flights. He did go through a phase when he hated his car seat, but that was a pretty small phase. We recently were on a flight that had REALLY BAD turbulence and it would have been scary to hold onto him during that. So, if you want to fly with a car seat, make sure it says on your car seat that it is for cars AND planes. And you can only set it up in the window seat. It cannot block anyone.

Tip #4: Split up boarding

Before we had Trooper, I was always envious of those who could get on the plane before everyone else and get situated. Now I know that that isn’t always the best thing! If you are traveling with another adult, I highly suggest that you split up boarding. Have one adult get on the plane with your boarding group. They will stow all the carry ons, sanitize the area if that’s how you roll (I roll that way), and install the car seat, if you’re taking it on, while the other adult is still at the gate with the baby. If you have a toddler this is a MUST because you want to get as much walking energy out as possible! Then, when everyone else is on the plane, you and the baby get on. Waiting is tough on everyone but especially kids! I realize you can’t always do this, but if you can, it is really helpful!

Tip #5: Give them something to suck or drink during take off and landing

This tip is good for all ages! Lollipops, drinks, those applesauce pouches, gum, all of these things help their little ears pop and that will make for a MUCH smoother takeoff and landing. Just imaging you’re a baby and there are all these new sights and sounds and then your ears hurt for no reason. I can totally understand crying! 

One time Trooper had a little congestion when we flew home from somewhere and we weren’t on top of his ears popping and then they wouldn’t pop and it was a pretty miserable flight for all of us

Can we talk about babies crying for a second? Troopers first flight was 2 hours. I was so worried that he would cry the whole time and bug everyone that I made little treat bags for the people around us that said something like, “Hey! This is my first flight and I’m sorry if I cry!” Though it was cuter than that. I didn’t pass them out. One because I was kind of embarrassed but the second reason was - babies cry. As long as my kid isn’t being intentionally rude, like throwing things or kicking the chair, and I’m doing the best that I can, people will be fine. (Not everyone thinks this but planes are loud anyway, so…) So, do your best and give yourself some grace. I know that there will be another momma on that flight pulling for you!

Tip #6: Audiobooks and Downloaded Movies are a lifesaver!

We love our audiobooks and downloaded movies! And they have been a lifesaver on flights recently. Usually, the airlines we fly have screens in the back of the seat and plenty of kids' movies to keep Trooper (and me) entertained, but in the last few flights we’ve had, they have not worked so we were glad to have downloaded a movie or audiobook too!

Tip #7: Think about flight times

Before we first flew with Trooper, I read a lot of articles about when to fly and a lot of them said that you should fly during their nap time to make it easier. Well, if your child sleeps on flights, then more power to you! Mine does NOT. He didn’t even sleep more than an hour when we flew back from Hawaii on a red eye! So, that didn’t work for us. 

But what did work for us was to schedule the flight - whenever we could - for midday. We live about 1 hour from our airport so we always have to factor that into our time. So, usually a 1 pm flight is our favorite. That way, we would be able to leave by 9:30 am or so and that was a much less grouchy flight than if we tried to go earlier or later.

As long as we had snacks. 

As Trooper gets older, he’s getting a lot better about flight times, but I still prefer an early afternoon flight.

Tip #8: Bring a change of clothes.

This is something that I’ve gotten a bit lax about lately, but a change of clothes for your kids AND you are a great thing to have in your carry on. You just never know what’s going to happen. When they’re babies, they could pee all over themselves, or spit up, or have a blow out! (That sentence just made me really tired.) 

But even as older kids, they could get motion sick. Or they could spill something on themselves and refuse to wait for it to dry. 

Anything like that. So, pack a change of clothes, for everyone! Plus you get the added bonus of being prepared if your checked bags get lost!

Tip #9: Bring LOTS of diapers.

However many diapers you think you’ll need, triple it. You.just.never.know. You never know if you’ll get stuck on the tarmac for hours. You don’t know if your flight will be delayed. You.just.never.know. And yes, there are diapers for sale at the airport but they are VERY expensive and they don’t have all of the sizes so, bring LOTS of diapers.

One thing that I did like when we flew with Trooper when he was still in diapers is that I bought a cloth diaper cover to put over his diaper because I was worried about blow outs. It worked great!

Tip #10: Get out their, and your energy, before the flight.

We all know that kids have excess energy. And trying to keep a wiggly toddler in their seat during take off is next to impossible. So, run out their energy beforehand. Tour around the airport. Give them little things they have to do so they can run around - preferably where they aren’t bugging anyone. I’ve also seen people walking the wrong way on the moving sidewalk with their littles. (That one cracks me up!) They’re going to be sitting for awhile, so get their energy out!

Tip #11: TSA Precheck - it’s totally worth it!

TSA Precheck is my favorite thing about flying right now. Ok, that may be a little over the top, but I do love TSA Precheck. When Trooper was little, it was a LIFESAVER when getting through security at the airport.

What is TSA Precheck? It’s a pre-screening process that costs, at the time of this recording, $78 for 5 years. You get to go in a special Precheck lane and you don’t have to remove your shoes, belts, light jackets, liquids, or laptops. Normally, it’s a lot faster than the regular security line as well.

What I love about it is that Trooper can go through PreCheck with me until he’s 12. I have heard a rumor that the age is going to be raised to 17 this summer, but I couldn’t confirm that.

Find out more info here!

It really is worth it! Especially when traveling with kids!

Tip #12: Bring snacks.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a picky eater. To be truthful, I’m a bit of a picky eater myself, so we always bring our own snacks when we travel. And we bring a lot of them! I’ve heard so many horror stories of people stuck in the airport or on the tarmac with no food. In fact, we flew out of LAX one time and we couldn’t find any food that I could eat (I was gluten free at the time) or Trooper would eat. Snacks! Lot of them.

Tip #13: Use Instacart or store pick up

We’ve talked about this before, but when you get to your destination, use Instacart or store pickup for your essentials, like formula, diapers, more snacks. It’s no fun to use your precious vacation time for grocery shopping.

I do have one word of warning though. A few years ago, we used Walmart Delivery to get our food and essentials delivered to a Disney World hotel and the delivery never came. In fact, when I called them to complain, they said, and I quote, “Oh yeah, they probably just went home with it.” Too bad for them. It was a lot of gluten free food! But we did get our money back and then used Instacart and it worked perfectly!

Tip #14: Sign them up for a frequent flier number

We love frequent flier and loyalty numbers in our house. In fact, we just booked a trip for just me and Brent using loyalty points! So, sign your kids up for a frequent flier number. With Trooper, we don’t every use the miles he gets so that when he graduates, he can have a super fun trip - that hopefully he’ll want us to come along with him!

It’s free and easy so why not!

Tip #15: Use a toiletry bag for the flight

This last one, I’m still a bit on the fence about. I was scrolling through Pinterest and I saw that someone had used one of the toiletry bags and rolls out flat for their kid’s markers and snacks for the plane. They just hung it from the little holder on the tray table. It looked so great! Trooper was uninterested so I tried it out on our last flight. I put my meds in one section - like my dramamine and cough drops - some pens in the next section, and my electronics in the last section. On the flight there, I had the perfect hook for it and I really liked it. But on the flight home, the tray table holder was a little different so it didn’t hang. 

Next time, I’m going to put less in it, but I still might give it a try.